Group Counseling For Elementary And Middle School Children

Focusing on theory and therapeutic factors and applications, this work will provide group leaders and counselors working with children with a conceptual basis and specific strategies for use in therapy, counseling, and therapeutic groups. It proposes that groups be formed around themes of condition (such as loss), rather than themes of circumstance (such as divorce). Forming the group, leader characteristics, and the expression of feelings and emotions are emphasized by the author. This work will be of interest to all mental health professionals working with children--school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

An expanded edition filled with ideas, strategies, and tools for school counselors This Survival Guide helps counselors plan and implement an effective counseling program tailored to the needs of all students. Step by step, the book walks readers through every aspect of the school counselor job, including: designing a comprehensive counseling program, communicating with students and fellow staff, facilitating groups, promoting positive school discipline, integrating a guidance curriculum, intervening in times of crisis, and taking personal and professional care of oneself. Discusses how to reach out to diverse student and parent populations Shows how to integrate the American School Counselor Association's National Model for designing, delivering, and evaluating a school's counseling program Reveals how new technology can improve services to students and parents Other titles by Wiggin: I.O.U.S.A., Demise of the Dollar, and Financial Reckoning Day This comprehensive resource also includes a wealth of reproducible worksheets, letters, checklists, and forms designed to save time and effort for busy school counselors.

Many ways of working with elementary through high school students in groups to provide maximum services in the minimum of time are presented in this book of 80 reproducible handouts. You get more than 100 fully designed group sessions on general topics such as self-concept, friendship, and refusal skills, to name just a few.

This book of readings presents 33 articles that address topics of importance to counselors who serve middle school students. It was written for counselors already working in middle schools and for individuals who are preparing for careers as middle school counselors. The book will also benefit both elementary school counselors who help children make the transition from elementary to middle school and high school counselors who work with adolescents making the transition from middle school into high school. It deals with how counselors in middle schools can help early adolescents face the challenges of adolescence, noting that middle school counseling programs should focus on preparing students for the increased independence of high school life that is typically accompanied by more social pressures and increased stress. The chapters in this book offer many ideas for helping young people improve their sense of self, their decision-making capabilities, their interpersonal relationships, their academic skills, and their abilities to deal with stress. Chapters contain articles that have been invited for the book in addition to articles that have been published in various counseling journals. Each chapter contains an introduction by the editors and a collection of articles on a particular topic. Individual chapters focus on: (1) self-discovery; (2) family relationships; (3) peer pressure and drug abuse; (4) stress and suicide; (5) sexual maturation; (6) academic achievement; (7) career exploration; and (8) organizing a middle school counseling program. (NB)

This comprehensive and practical text on how to conduct Group Counseling in K-12 Schools focuses on practice rather than on the theories and research that underlie group counseling. Group Counseling in Schools covers the topic of group counseling from initiation to termination at all school levels. The text views group counseling as an integral component of a comprehensive guidance and counseling program, covering such topics as the importance of enhancing the visibility of guidance and counseling programs in order to facilitate group counseling; how to encourage cooperation from teachers, administrators, and parents; selecting group topics; screening procedures for prospective group members; developing group plans; determining the size of groups; facilitating the scheduling of group counseling; multicultural issues in group counseling; evaluating group counseling; and professional issues related to group counseling in schools. The text stresses the importance of the school counselor as an active participant in counseling, whether counseling is being done individually or in a group. The role of the active counselor is discussed along with the skills needed for becoming an effective school counselor.

A field-tested resource designed to help counselors educate students in areas such as interpersonal communication, conflict management, and relationship building.

For guidance counselors, social workers, nurses and others who work closely with elementary students troubled by problems of divorce, this unique new resource presents 12 ready-to-use, school-tested group sessions with background information and reproducible materials to help children who are struggling to cope with and accept changes in their families. The sessions are preceded by guidelines for establishing divorce groups, ideas for beginning and ending each session, suggestions for responding to the confusion children may express, and case studies with actual examples of the children's questionnaires and artwork. Each of the 12 group sessions provides ready-to-use lesson plans and reproducible activity sheets that can be copied as many times as needed: general background on divorce, why parents marry and divorce, changes, two houses, feeling angry, feeling guilty, the grieving process, legal issues, stepparenting, a happy marriage, review, achieving closure.

"From friendship issues to coping with loss to changing family situations, elementary school counselors encounter student needs every day. But when time is short and resources are limited, counseling groups can effectively address a host of academic, career and personal/social/emotional issues. This guide contains programs of 10-12 sessions for three groups: a grief and loss group, a social skills group and a parental separation group"--